CHICAGO—Just the other day, I asked an NBA general manager what he expected from the league’s annual predraft confab here, which will be held at the newly rebranded Harrison Street Athletics Facility. The answer: “Probably just talk, mostly. Talking to other [teams] and talking to the players. The actual performances are not that valuable. We get them in our own workouts.”

Still, the predraft combine will go on, starting Thursday, and though it probably will mostly be about talk, there will be some interesting storylines to keep an eye on. They’re right here in fact:

The walking wounded

This week will be as much about getting medical updates and checking in on rehabs as anything. It starts at the top, where potential No. 1 pick Nerlens Noel is coming off the ACL surgery he had in February. Noel won’t do much of anything here in Chicago beyond getting measured, though he will interview with teams and that will give front-office execs the chance to size up what kind of shape Noel has been able to stay in while coming back from the injury. Noel will not be alone in this protocol. Forward Anthony Bennett, possibly a Top 5 pick, underwent surgery on his rotator cuff, an injury he played through in the last few weeks of UNLV’s season. He won’t be here at all. Center Alex Len, a player with whom scouts seem to have a love-hate thing going, is out, too, rehabbing an injured ankle. We’ll also get a look at Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum, whose season was cut short when he suffered a foot injury, but who still might be a lottery pick. There’s also Georgi Dieng, who is still coming back from an ankle injury. Most recently, forward C.J. Leslie suffered a minor hand injury that will keep him out of drills, though he can participate in athletic testing.

The Frenchman

In a draft that saw a pretty wide exodus of first-round picks back to the NCAA, international prospects have taken on greater importance. Most of the players who could go in the first round are still in Europe because of obligations to their pro teams, but one who isn’t—big man Rudy Gobert—is drawing significant attention and could be the first international player selected. Gobert is huge, standing 7-1 with an incredible wingspan of 7-9, and good athleticism for his size. Unfortunately, his positives stop there, as he is very raw, particularly on the offensive end. That makes some scouts break out in Alexis Ajinca-sweats, but Gobert still should wind up somewhere near the back end of the lottery.

The point guards

Trey Burke and Michael Carter-Williams probably will be the top two point men chosen this year, but who goes first is still up for debate—Carter-Williams is a defensive menace who is an outstanding playmaker, while Burke is a much better scorer who showed his leadership in taking Michigan to the national championship game. Beyond those two, there figures to be a scrum for who’s next among the point guards. German guard Dennis Schroeder has been a hot name lately, but Miami’s Shane Larkin could be a factor. There are a couple of sleepers to watch, too: Baylor’s Pierre Jackson is one, and Murray State’s Isaiah Canaan is the other.

The wild cards

Three players are here who NBA teams just don’t know much about—or, maybe, they know too much about. First is Ricky Ledo, who was academically ineligible as a freshman at Providence this year and bolted from school before playing a single college game. He has talent, but he is a huge question mark. There is also Norvel Pelle, an athletic big man who was academically ineligible last year and could not play for St. John’s, then was ruled ineligible again this year at Iona. Pelle has ability, but he pretty much hasn’t played at a competitive level in two years. So he’s kind of a risk. Finally, there is Glen Rice Jr., who was exiled from the program at Georgia Tech and hooked up with the D-League instead. He averaged 13.0 points in the D-League regular season, but got better as the year went on and, in the playoffs, averaged 25.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in six games, leading Rio Grande to the D-League title.